Remembrance and Armistice Day Why is it important to remember?

Remembrance and Armistice Day Today/This week (insert the day), is Remembrance Day. At 11 o’clock (on what day?) it will be the anniversary of the end of the First World War, when the Armistice (peace agreement) was signed.

Remembrance and Armistice Day That war which lasted from 1914-1918 now seems like a very long time ago, especially when there have been plenty of wars since then. However, the First World War changed modern warfare.

Remembrance and Armistice Day For many people it defined the horror that would come out of the 20th century. This was the first mechanised war with machine guns which could fire hundreds of rounds of ammunition per minute. It was also where tanks and aircraft were used for the first time – it was death on an industrial scale.

Remembrance and Armistice Day We’re going to watch a piece of film from the Battle of the Somme, one of the worst battles of the First World War. The piece of film is 100 years old – there is no sound to it and it is not like modern footage. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/battle-of-the-somme The Film clip is 3 Minutes long you can show the whole thing or just an excerpt.

Remembrance and Armistice Day One million men were killed and over two million were injured in the First World War. Once the war was over, many felt that their sacrifice should not be forgotten. On 11 November 1919, on the first anniversary of the Armistice, a service of Remembrance was held.

Remembrance and Armistice Day Since then, Remembrance Services are held annually around the world, commemorating British and Commonwealth servicemen and women who died in the two World Wars and in later conflicts. Royalty, religious leaders, politicians, representatives of state and the Armed and Auxiliary Forces, along with ordinary people like you and me, gather at war memorials across the country to pay their respects to those who gave their lives defending others.

Remembrance and Armistice Day War memorials today and this weekend will be covered in wreaths of poppies. http/www.poppyscotland.org.uk/learning/public/media/view/30-remembrance-Sunday-service-glasgow-2008- Highlands Dundee Alternatively you could show a photo of your own local war memorial- http://www.warmemorials.org/links-scotland/ Here is a film of a Remembrance ceremony held in Glasgow recently.

Remembrance and Armistice Day The poppy was adopted in 1921 by The Royal British Legion as the symbol of Remembrance. People had begun to wear a poppy after being inspired by the poem of a Canadian doctor, John McCrae, who had been present in France at the fighting. Dr John McCrae This poem was called In Flanders Fields and we are going to read it now.

Remembrance and Armistice Day In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders’ fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders’ fields.

Remembrance and Armistice Day Two key things which happen at a Remembrance ceremony are the reading of the Exhortation and then a Two Minute Silence. The exhortation is part of a poem called For the Fallen, written by an English poet called Laurence Binyon in 1914: Laurence Binyon I shall read the Exhortation to you now….

Remembrance and Armistice Day They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. At the end everyone repeats the line ‘We will Remember them’.

Remembrance and Armistice Day During the Two Minute Silence, many people throughout the country stay silent to think about people they know or have heard about who have had their lives affected by conflict. Or they can think about those people who are fighting in wars today and how hard that must be for their families at home. Who would you think about? Let us hold a two minute silence now.

Remembrance and Armistice Day When we wear the poppy and pause for our Two Minute Silence, we are carrying a tradition that has lasted for nearly 100 years. Those traditions were introduced to help us to remember, to pause and think and to learn the lessons from the past. Remembrance Day is a day of reflection, it allows us to remember or think about all those people who are affected by wars, both in the distant past and more recently. It allows us to think about all those people who suffer in wars all around the world and reminds us how important it is for each and every one of us to work for peace. Optional supporting classroom activities:  A number of resources around the poppy and Remembrance can be found on the Poppyscotland Learning website at  http://www.poppyscotland.org.uk/learning/public/documents/all/